October 21st, 2007

That’s Autumn in Southern California. Santa Ana winds are blowing. It’s hot, windy, dry, and very smoky from fires around our valley, but not here…yet.

We don’t sleep as well when the wind is blowing, but part of the cause of our wakefulness was a dozen or so palm fronds landing and tumbling on our roof at 4:30 am! Seth is rather leary of the wind. He keeps asking “Mommy, do you like the wind?” “Daddy, what is the wind?” But he never seems satisfied with any answer.

What I love about the wind is hearing the wind chimes Peter bought in Maine as our honeymoon souvenir.  🙂

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When we got home this afternoon from spending some time at Papa’s house, the yard was strewn with leaves and huge palm fronds and the boys set to work gathering them into a pile. The light was the yellow/red glow of smoke clouds and there was ash flying through the air and pooling in the corners around the yard.

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I’m grateful for God’s protection during past fire seasons and I’m trusting Him for this one, too. Now, what to do with all these palm fronds?!?

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October 20th, 2007

Donna threw Noel’s Bridal Luncheon in her backyard today. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and a beautiful party!

Here’s the bride.

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Noel and I.

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Noel with Aunt Mary and Grandma Guy.

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Jane came home for the shower!

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And finally a picture with Gigi!

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October 19th, 2007

A few random pictures from our week…

The boys have been building forts, tents, tepees, houses, caves, and shelters of all kinds with the papas an chairs.

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When Seth got a turn with the camping chair he set it down exactly in the front door, plopped down, folded his arms and sat just watching the world for a long time.

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Wheelbarrow rides!

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Ian loves watching Raven, and if she gets close enough he’ll grab her and plant a big slobbery kiss on her fur!

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Zachary came over to play!

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I’m still not quite sure what Jerome was doing.

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Seth said he had ice cream for everybody…but then he decided it should go in the back of his truck.

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Ian is sitting up on his own pretty well! He’s four and a half months old.

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Jerome and Wesley had fun playing with Ian the other day….

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but it ended with Mommy saving Ian from being dropped on his head.

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Last night the boys dumped out all their paints and mixed colors and splashed colors…it still wasn’t dry this morning!

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What fun little boys are!

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October 15th, 2007

before bedtime…

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Goodnight!

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October 15th, 2007

Last night Mom and Dad hosted a family dinner for this month. It’s so nice to have everybody together regularly and I’m grateful to have Peter’s cousins and aunts and uncles and great Grandma in our boy’s lives. Gigi got to be there, too! How grateful I am that she is here and part of our family!

As I got up to get Ian from his nap during dessert, Seth took my place, and my dessert, next to Eric and Gigi. Eric asked him “So how is your life, Seth?” and he very emphatically answered “Daddy’s my life!” several times. And when I came up behind him and asked him what he meant, he said “It’s my life!”. I’m not sure exactly what was going on in his almost three year old brain, but I would love to know!

Saturday was scheduled with two showers, a baby shower in Lancaster for lunch, and a bridal shower just down the street for a sit down dinner. Mom was gracious to drive Donna, Brennan, Ian and I all up to Lancaster which is normally over an hour away. As we were on our way Dad called and gave us a heads up on a crash that might put us out of our way, so Mom tuned in the radio to learn more. It turned out to be a horrendous 31 vehicle pileup in the Newhall pass under the 5 freeway that happened Friday night. The radio broadcasters rerouted the motor public, they called us, and so we went around the long way but got a glimpse of the disaster in which two men and an infant lost their lives. Absolutely horrendous. Makes me look at my boys with complete gratitude to God and a feeling of forced faith. Their lives are in God’s hands alone.

So the trip to Lancaster was an all day affair, and I marveled at Mom’s ability to navigate the mountain passes without a wrong turn and without making me carsick. 🙂 Ian and Brennan spent the whole day in the car together and not being able to touch each other they just watched and smiled at each other. They were good babies and very pleasant to travel with.

I got home and learned that my husband can make animal balloons! After six years of marriage and three boys, I can’t believe I didn’t know that! He was so gracious and kept Jerome, Seth, Zachary, and Brennan for the evening shower, too. He was still in a cheerful mood after spending a whole day with the children, although he was very tired. Thank you, Peter!
~

Just some fun things that happened this week…

One afternoon the boys and I walked down to the driveway to check the mail. Jerome usually dashes ahead of us to open the mailbox and I’m usually calling back to Seth who has become interested in something beside the driveway, which was the case this day. But when I looked ahead Jerome wasn’t at the mailbox, he was already up a tree showing me how he could climb it. His eyes shone  and he was eager to see what my reaction would be.  I was amazed at his monkey like agility and prayed for his safety.                                                                                                                                                               I used to be a climber, too.  Rooftops and treetops were my favorite places, so I know what he’s feeling and how sure he is of himself, but only now do I understand what a parent feels while watching.

A couple weeks ago we did a science project in our school time discovering which little things around the house float. It was a lot of fun and Jerome had guessed half of the things correctly. After that we floated an egg in salt water and read about the Dead Sea, found it on the map, and continued with a geography lesson…

One morning this week I found Seth at the sink with a bowl of water. He had submerged the table salt in the water and was asking for an egg!

So now I have yet another headcold. I’ve lost track of how many I’ve had this season. On a rainy, cold day like today it would be nice to have Peter home again and take a nap, but on we go! And God go before us.

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